Watching so many film noir films from the comfort of my couch with a big bowl of popcorn has left me obsessed. It ranges from the play on lighting and shadows to the older ‘Hollywood” actors, and the mystery-based storylines. Casablanca is one of the most famous film noir films and is on the list for being one of the best films ever made. Directed by Michael Curtiz and starring famous film noir actors Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman, this movie reputedly received a 97% rating from critics and a 95% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The film had an $878,000 budget and made $3.7 million at the box offices. Notably, it is also #3 on The American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 films.
In most film noir movies there is a cynical main character, a femme fatale, and always a play on shadows and lighting. Set during WWII, our protagonist Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is a very cynical man who owns a saloon that welcomes a variety of clientele including the Vichy French, German officials, and desperate refugees who wish to escape to America. Blaine cynically claims that he is neutral concerning all matters surrounding the war, but is later revealed to have run weapons to Ethiopia during its war with Italy and fought on the Loyalist side during the Spanish civil war. Later in the movie, a woman named Isla Lund, who is revealed to have been Blaine’s former flame, walks into his saloon. The pianist, Sam per the request of Isla plays a song that Blaine had told him to never play ever again. The story continues on in a game of cat and mouse, with various feelings coming to light and how Rick’s cynical attitude ultimately affects that.
I thought that the next couple of scenes after the scene discussed previously were interesting. Blaine recalls how he and Isla met and fell in love during the Nazi occupation of Paris. Isla had told him that she would meet him at the train station, instead, she wrote him a note stating that they can never be together. I thought this was a really neat play on cinematography since the camera zooms in on the note and it is raining during this sequence of events which makes it look like tears, as though Blaine is crying. Afterward, Blaine gets on the train, and in a puff of smoke, the ‘flashback’ ends, the puff of smoke is often seen in film noir movies because it adds the mysterious effect, especially with a cynical character.
Casablanca is on my list of favorite movies, it definitely deserves its spot in the top three. The acting is beautifully done, and the cinematography makes it feel almost like an escapist film to the likes of the original Star Wars. The film leaves you on the edge of your seat, with its original story, wanting to know more and piece together the different puzzles of the anti-hero’s life. Casablanca can be compared to a few movies that I enjoyed very much as well. Maltese Falcon, another film noir film that features Humphrey Bogart contains the same sort of elements as Casablanca with its cynical main character and shadowy cinematography. There were moments throughout the film when the editing could be compared to that of French-New-Wave classic Breathless with the slightly jumpier cuts, even though they weren’t as noticeable. Overall being a fantastic movie filled with everything one could look for, I give it 5/5 stars.
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